Daily life is considerably more expensive: meat, fuel and holidays drive up prices

You may have already noticed it at the pump or in the supermarket: daily life became considerably more expensive again in September. Prices continue to rise, which hits consumers in the wallet. But what exactly is driving this inflation? And why are costs rising faster in the Netherlands than in the rest of Europe?

Inflation rises to 3.3 percent in September

Inflation in the Netherlands will have risen to 3.3 percent in September 2025, reports the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). This means that the price level is again higher than a month earlier, when inflation was still 2.8 percent.

In particular, daily expenses such as petrol, meat and holidays at home have driven up inflation. The increase is in line with the quick estimate of October 1 and is confirmed in the most recent figures from Statistics Netherlands.

Motor fuels became on average 3.6 percent more expensive in September than a year earlier. This is striking, because in August they were even cheaper than in the same month of 2024. Gasoline in particular had an upward effect on inflation.

Renting a holiday home in the Netherlands also cost more. According to CBS, this is partly a seasonal effect, but also a result of the increasing popularity of bungalow parks.

The price increase of beef is the most striking. Consumers now pay more than 34 percent more for beef and veal than a year ago. Pork and chicken also became more expensive by 5.5 and 4 percent respectively. According to analysts, this is partly due to the decline in the number of cattle in Europe and high world market prices for agricultural products such as coffee and cocoa.

Inflation in the Netherlands remains higher than in the eurozone

It is striking how high inflation is in the Netherlands compared to the rest of Europe. In the eurozone, the inflation average was 2.2 percent last month.

The persistently high inflation in the Netherlands has several causes. Economists point to the rapid wage increases in response to the energy crisis. Unions demanded higher salaries to compensate for loss of purchasing power, and employers gave in. These wage costs are now partly passed on to consumers.

Rising rents also play a role. In the Netherlands, rental prices count more heavily in the inflation figure than elsewhere. The combination of a tight labor market, higher wage costs and significant rent increases ensures that Dutch inflation is structurally higher than the European average.